Former EKY cop indicted for assaulting 2 officers who stopped him for DUI on ATV
A former Paintsville Police Department officer has been indicted on 11 charges, including seven felony counts, for a May incident in which he is accused of driving drunk while leaving a Taco Bell on an ATV.
A Johnson County grand jury indicted James Bradley, 37, of Paintsville, on two counts of third-degree assault, five counts of wanton endangerment and four misdemeanor charges, including driving under the influence, according to Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman’s office.
A caller to 911 spotted an ATV in line at a Taco Bell drive-through “with open containers and a cooler in the back” just after midnight on May 18, according to an arrest report from the Paintsville Police Department.
Officers responding to the call spotted the ATV leaving the fast-food restaurant and noted the driver “could not maintain proper lane positioning” and was “swerving while approaching the intersection,” according to the arrest report.
Police wrote that Bradley had six passengers inside the ATV — five minors and one adult.
Bradley, then employed as a Paintsville officer, had slurred speech, smelled strongly of alcohol and struggled to maintain his balance, officers wrote.
A judge granted a search warrant to draw Bradley’s blood, and he was transported to a nearby hospital, the report says. Bradley tried to refuse having his blood taken, even after being restrained.
“Subject pulled away multiple times, advising the phlebotomist, ‘don’t miss’ multiple times while rotating his arm back and forth,” the arrest report says. “Both officers then attempted to further detain the subject for blood draw, subject jerked away multiple times, shoulder checking both officers and eluding blood draw.”
Bradley then “attempted to stand on the hospital bed twice, falling once and striking both officers,” an officer wrote.
The arresting officer wrote that Bradley repeatedly called him a “little (expletive),” before eventually consenting to the blood draw and being taken to jail.
Coleman’s office presented the case to the grand jury. Paintsville police investigated the incident.
This story was originally published August 21, 2025 at 6:37 PM.
